Does the Mormon hymn "Praise to the Man" (Joseph Smith) constitute blasphemy against Christ?

Question

LDS Hymn "Praise to the Man"
1. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
[Chorus]
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.
2. Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.
3. Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
4. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know “Brother Joseph” again.

I thought only God could accept praise. TM

"Ages ago in the Great Council, Jesus was the prepared but meek Volunteer. As the Father described the plan of salvation and the need for a Savior, it was Jesus who stepped forward and said humbly but courageously, 'Here am I, send me.' (Abr. 3:27; see also Moses 4:2.) Never has anyone offered to do so much for so many with so few words!
"It is through the Prophet Joseph Smith, whom the resurrected Jesus called, that we learn these things and so much more about Jesus--long before Bethlehem and well beyond Calvary. "Whenever we speak of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, therefore, it should be in reverent appreciation of the Lord who called him and whom Joseph served so well."
-Neal A. Maxwell

Heres another one, Jesus was competing with Lucifer (Satan) about who should save mankind. Lucifer was alledgedly according to LDS doctrine the "Brother of Jesus"

Answer 1

Highlighting the immense praise sung to this dead man is worth doing, if only to make people think twice about the differences between praise and worship. They are closely linked but worship is something only deity can receive. Now, Mormons consider Joseph Smith to be a god, do they not? He is now being worshipped by his own planet-full of lesser gods? And are not ALL Mormons aspiring to be gods themselves, with their own sexually reproduced population? If we can get beneath the semantics with Mormons, much will become clear. What do THEY mean by "God" or "god"? Once you're into the idea of multiple gods, demi-gods and superior gods, a hierarchy of gods, anything goes. That's why Mormonism cannot be called Christian. That's why Christians must stand up and expose the deception involved, for this dishonors God's great name. To worship more than one God is to be a polytheist. Mormons are polytheists. Jesus Christ and God condemned that outright. Don't shoot the messengers!

Answer 2

I'm LDS, but have to admit that my husband and I agree we don't like singing that hymn. We want to praise Jesus and Heavenly Father, and while we acknowledge the great work Joseph Smith did, the very title of the hymn gives the wrong impression.

As to Jesus and Satan being brothers, I don't know why anti-Mormons make such a big thing of it, since it's perfectly logical. We know that everyone and everything was created by God. This includes Satan. QED, Jesus (the firstborn of creation) and Satan are brothers, and we are also their brothers and sisters. What's the problem with that?

Answer 3

You're confusing praise with worship.

And as for Satan being Christ's brother...

If this is true, how does it diminish Christ? Cain and Abel were brothers, does that make Abel less because his brother was Cain? NO.

Heavenly Father created everything and everyone...that includes Lucifer.

Read Isaiah 14:12-13
12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Also read Revelations 12:4; Jude 1:6; 2 Peter2:4.

Hope that helps! :)

Answer 4

I'm no theologian and I'm not a Mormon. I do think it's going a bit far to say that only God can accept praise. If you believe that, you'd better be sure you home school your kids. Those public and private schools praise all sorts of people, from George Washington to George Bush to Moses to Paul to even praising the children themselves for basic things like sitting still or learning to read. It's a rare thing for any of those being praised to reject all praise. I believe that in Christian belief only God is fully worthy of praise but that doesn't mean that people cannot be praised for acting in a godly way.

Answer 5

The only observation that a non-Mormon might make regarding this question is simply to acknowledge that Mormons themselves claim to be nontrinitarian Christians; that is, they believe that Jesus the Son is a distinct person from God the Father. However, Mormons do not believe that the "God" of the so-called "New Testament" is the same "God" of the so-called "Old Testament"; Mormonism teaches that the pre-human Jesus is the "God" or "Jehovah" of the so-called "Old Testament".

This is obviously a fundamentally different theology than the other great nontrinitarian Christian religion, Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bible to teach that there are several references to Jesus in the so-called "Old Testament" which indicate that he is distinct from the "God" or "Jehovah" of the so-called "Old Testament". It is not enough to simply assert that a doctrine is true, and so Jehovah's Witnesses reason from the Scriptures on the matter...


It seems rather obvious that the apostle Luke at Acts 4:25-27 quotes from Psalms 2:1,2. Although these passages are part of the Christian and Hebrew Scriptures respectively, BOTH passages make it plain that there is an "anointed one" who is distinct from God. The Psalm plains calls that God by the name "Jehovah" (explicitly using the Tetragrammaton) and Acts plainly calls the anointed one by the name "Jesus".

(Psalm 2:1,2) [David wrote] Why have the nations been in tumult and the national groups themselves kept muttering an empty thing? 2 The kings of earth take their stand And high officials themselves have massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one

(Acts 4:24-27) [Peter, John, and fellow Christians] with one accord raised their voices to God and said: “Sovereign Lord, you are the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them, 25 and who through holy spirit said by the mouth of our forefather David, your servant, ‘Why did nations become tumultuous and peoples meditate upon empty things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one.’ 27 Even so, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with men of nations and with peoples of Israel were in actuality gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus


Similarly, the apostle Paul at 1 Cor 2:16 and Rom 11:33,34 paraphrases Isaiah 40:13. Note that Isaiah explicitly uses the name "Jehovah" (the Hebrew Tetragrammaton), and 1 Corinthians plainly CONTRASTS the mind of Jehovah with the mind of Christ Jesus.

(1 Corinthians 2:16) For “who has come to know the mind of Jehovah, that he may instruct him?” But we do have the mind of Christ.

(Romans 11:33-34) O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are! 34 For “who has come to know Jehovah’s mind, or who has become his counselor?”

(Isaiah 40:13) Who has taken the proportions of the spirit of Jehovah, and who as his man of counsel can make him know anything?

Learn more!
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_05.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20050422/
http://watchtower.org/e/20020515/
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_03.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/lmn/index.htm?article=article_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/pr/index.htm?article=article_04.htm

Answer 6

No it means Kudos to the Man.

If I sing the hymn Praise Be to Yahoo From Whom All Blessings Flow, it that blasphemy?

Use your noggin.

Blasphemy is something altogether different.

Answer 7

You are confusing 'praise' with 'worship'.

Praise is the act of expressing approval or admiration for someone or something. We can praise one another for good works done, praise beautiful pieces of art, praise a good meal, etc.

Worship is the reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.

In the scriptures, I can find no references to God saying we cannot praise others for good works done. He does say not to praise ourselves (IE: Don't boast about yourself) in Proverbs 27.

But he is a jealous God and has commanded us not to worship any other gods before him.

Mormons do not worship Joseph Smith, but we do give him praise for the many wonderful things he did, just like we do with other current and ancient Prophets of God.

Answer 8

Actually, the tune is the classic Scottish anthem "Scotland the Brave". William W Phelps provided the "Praise to the Man" lyrics after Josephs demise. More recently Scot journalist Cliff Hanley adapted more "Scottish" lyrics in the 1950's.

I used to think it was an old drinking song, but that's "If you could Hie Unto Kolob"

Answer 9

You must be on another world or something, everyone likes a little praise now and again, even, I'm sure you like a little praise.
Brother Smith just started Gods church back on earth again, so of course on earth and in heaven, he will get some praise, but the Mormons never see him above God.

Answer 10

tanman, why don't you just hang it up? This anger you have against our church is just not good for you.

We sing that hymn maybe once or twice a year.

Want to see the words to a couple of my favorite hymns?

One starts out;

Oh Lord My God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made!
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power thru out the universe displayed
Then sings my soul My Saviour God to Thee

How Great Thou ART! How Great Thou Art!

Here's another, we sing for sacrament;

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me!

Confused at the grace that so fully He profers me!

Oh, it is wonderful! that He should care for me enough to die for me!

Oh it is wonderful! Wonderful to me!